Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts film will bring back Black Widow villain Taskmaster, if a new rumor is to be believed.
Credible industry source Daniel RPK recently claimed that Olga Kurylenko will return as Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, reports ComicBookMovie. Black Widow established Dreykov as a near-unstoppable opponent whose photographic reflexes allow her to mimic the fighting styles and abilities of other MCU characters. The film also set the stage for Dreykov’s redemption, an arc that Thunderbolts could expand upon. That said, Kurylenko is not officially attached to the production at this stage, so Taskmasker’s return should be treated as pure speculation for now.
Although a Thunderbolts adaptation has been rumored for years, the project didn’t appear to be in active development. This changed in October 2021, after a new report indicated that Thunderbolts is currently in pre-production, with principal photography slated for sometime in 2023. Marvel Studios has neither confirmed nor denied that a Thunderbolts film was in the works, however.
More recently, Jake Schreier was tapped to direct Thunderbolts, lending further credence to claims that cameras will roll on the movie in the near future. Schreier will apparently work from a script by Black Widow screenwriter Eric Pearson, while Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is expected to serve as Thunderbolts‘ producer, a title he’s held on every MCU movie since 2008’s Iron Man.
Little is known about the plot of Thunderbolts, however, many fans assume that it will follow the premise of the original comics, in which the titular team was secretly supervillains under the command of Baron Zemo. Zemo himself is already an established figure in the MCU who first appeared in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, played by Daniel Brühl. Since then, he’s also featured in the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, again portrayed by Brühl.
Several other existing MCU characters are also associated with The Thunderbolts in the comics, including Hawkeye, Taskmaster, The Winter Soldier, Ghost and U.S. Agent. Asked whether he will reprise the U.S. Agent role in the Thunderbolts movie, actor Wyatt Russell recently insisted that he remains in the dark regarding the project. “When you get the phone call, you get the phone call. And [Marvel Studios] do a really good job of keeping it from everybody because, you know, they’ve got something to protect and I always say like, I’d just rather not know. Just don’t tell me. I don’t need to know. Just tell me when you want me to show up,” he said.
Thunderbolts does not yet have a release date.
Source: Daniel RPK, via ComicBookMovie